And Fortune will Smile
by Artenight
Summary: Her existence depended on people remembering the departed, and with her life on the line, was it any wonder she'd do anything in order to survive?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **I've had this idea for a story ever since I saw Rise of the Guardians about a week ago. I feel as though this has some potential but I'd love to know what you think of it. Maybe if enough people seem to like it, I'll continue it. I already have the next chapter completed and will be posting that in a few days time so you'll get a feel of what's to come.

Disclaimer: I do not own 'Rise of the Guardians' nor the poem 'Come Little Children' by Edgar Allan Poe. I'd also like to note that english isn't my first language and should you spot any grammar mistakes etc. please inform me about them in a nice manner. Thank you!

* * *

It was a dark, chilly October's night, the cold air having had scared even the moon away into hiding. Four children slowly made their rounds around the houses of their neighborhood, clinging onto their pumpkin shaped baskets with numbing, white fingers, protecting their stash of well-earned candy. They were dressed in costumes of various characters typically associated with this time of the year, all having added a thick cloak to shelter them from the rising cold. Baskets already nearly full, the three slightly older children decided to have a little fun on the expense of the youngest, and as such they had digressed from the main road, heading towards the local cemetery in order to scare the younger one. When they'd mentioned they'd be taking a shortcut through the sheltered field full of tombstones and graves the youngling had first protested but agreed to it once the older children had accused of him being a scaredy-cat.

"They say this cemetery's haunted," the first of the children began, his voice low and ominous as he turned to glance at the youngest, smirking slightly when he saw the other tense immediately upon his words.

"I heard that all of the people that ever died in this town are buried here," another of the children whispered, his voice just as grim, further adding to the spooky atmosphere of the cemetery.

Of course, his words were most likely true; the town in which they all resided was quite small, so naturally the departed would be buried at the only cemetery for miles to come. Still, on a night like this such logical thinking was nullified, leaving one to imagine the worst.

"B-but there's no such things as ghosts," the youngest uttered forcefully through his teeth, his voice a tad shaky despite his best efforts to keep it steady. He quickly rubbed his hands together, trying to mask his rising fear for being cold. "They're just as real as nightmares are – at least that's what mom says…"

"That's what she wants you to think. Everyone knows ghosts are real and that they can haunt you while you sleep," the last of the children snickered, momentarily jerking his head to the side as if seeing something. "Did you guys just see that?" he whispered, masking his smile as he saw the youngest boy visibly holding his breath, obviously scared. He turned back to look at one of the graves a couple or so meters away, raising his finger to point at it. "I think I just saw something move over there."

"Could it be _that_ ghost?" the first boy whispered back, giving the others a wink.

"W-what… ghost?" the youngest uttered, swallowing hard as he peaked around the other children to look at the grave, sighing when he found nothing out of the ordinary. "There's nothing there..."

"Many centuries ago there was a woman that was burned on a stake accused of witchcraft. They say her sprit still walks among us, searching for the relatives of the judge who trialed her." Of course, his story was completely made up but it still didn't change the fact that the young boy believed his every word - just like he himself had once believed his own big brother.

"Hey, isn't your dad a judge? Who knows, maybe she's out to get you tonight," the second boy taunted the youngest, enjoying his now frozen state.

"What does the witch do if she finds you?" the third boy inquired in a whispered tone.

"She's said to burn you alive, just like she was."

The youngest boy stared at the grave with wide, fearful eyes, barely able to breath. "But mom always said… there's no such thing as ghosts." He was ready to wet himself, shivering violently from the cold and his own fears. "Mom…"

The three older boys couldn't take it anymore, bursting into laughter as they watched the youngest start to cry, giving one another high-fives. The younger boy turned to stare at them with utter disbelief written across his face, feeling even worse as he figured out he'd been pranked.

"You should see your face!" the first boy laughed, holding onto his stomach like he was having trouble breathing.

"Yeah, that was priceless!" the other agreed beside him, wiping tears of laughter from his eyes.

The youngest cried even harder than before, turning around on his heals as he started making his escape back to the safe and familiar road he knew led him to his house. He was done with scary stories for tonight as well as the company of the boys he'd agreed to go trick-or-treating with that night.

"You're all mean idiots!" he managed to voice out before bursting into a run, leaving the rest of the boys behind.

"Well that was fun," one of them breathed out after finally recovering from his laughter, the other two calming down as well. "Now, who's up for a little more trick-or-treating? I want this puppy full!" he patted his basket gleefully, earning nods from his friends.

"Yeah! After all Halloween is all about candy!"

They continued their way across the cemetery, the route genuinely being a shortcut through at least three blocks worth of extra walking. Still emitting a stray giggle here and there, they suddenly felt a particularly cold gush of air, causing them all to jerk to a stop, the wind feeling as though it had gone straight through their bones. They glanced at each other, hugging themselves in an effort to keep warm from the sudden cold.

"What do you think that was? It couldn't have been the wind; there's too many trees around for it to blow here."

"Do you think it's that little runt trying to get back at us?"

"Probably. But he's not going to scare us, right guys?"

They continued their way, only to be brought to a stop once more, this time by a voice.

"W-what's that?" one of the boys whispered, his heart pounding slightly faster in his chest when he realized it couldn't possibly be the younger boy.

They listened for a moment before another opened his mouth, his voice but a whisper.

"I think that's… humming," he deciphered, turning his head from side to side in hopes of trying to pinpoint the sound. "I think that's a woman's voice, don't you? …Such a weird melody; I've never heard it before."

"Yeah, no doubt about it. But where's it coming from?"

"…Do you really want to find out? Shouldn't we just continue on?" the third asked in a dismissive tone, trying to mask his own growing anxiety by taking a few steps forward. "Don't tell me you actually believe in ghosts and stuff like that…"

The humming became instantly louder, all but freezing the boy in mid step as it echoed from various directions, the wind rising up once more and causing the trees to swing lightly, the swooshing of the leaves and the groaning of the branches starting to remind the children of a horror movie. They jumped as they saw something move in the forest; staring with wide, disbelieving eyes as small green fireballs levitated in the far distance.

The humming lasted for a little longer before stopping, changing into a song that made the boys nearly let go of their hard earned candy-filled baskets and spill the contents on the ground.

_Come little children, I'll take thee away,_

_Into a land of enchantment._

_Come little children, the times come to play,_

_Here in my garden of shadows._

The voice was eerie but clear and the song accompanied by the background noises and fire made the boys visibly shake as they stared at their surroundings in terror, desperately trying to find the source of the voice. Their breaths hitched to the back of their throats whenever they thought they saw something, only to realize a second later that it was just a tree or tombstone.

_Follow sweet children, I'll show thee the way,_

_Through all the pain and the sorrows._

_Weep not poor children, for life is this way,_

_Murdering beauty and passions._

The voice was getting closer, the woman singing emphasizing ominously on the words the boys really didn't like. They huddled together, all at the brink of running should they see or hear anything after the woman had stopped her singing. There was once again a strong, sudden gush of wind and before none of the boys could react, a black-cloaked figure stood in front of them, large poison green eyes staring at them intensely.

Bursting into shouts and screams, the boys stumbled backwards, all of them landing on the cold, hard ground before scrambling back onto their feet and making a run for it, too scared to even notice half of the contents of their baskets had spilled, let alone look back. The eerie melody they'd heard would play in their minds for the rest of the night.

* * *

The young woman stared mirthlessly at the fleeting backs of the three boys, watching as they left a trail of candy behind them.

'_Disrespectful brats – serves you right_,' she thought as she turned around and began walking calmly through the graveyard, stopping ever so often in front of the graves, closing her eyes after she'd read the name of the departed person.

"I see; you haven't had a visitor for years," she spoke out loud, opening her eyes to gaze upon one of the graves she'd stopped by, giving a sad smile to the old headstone. "I believe your children have all moved away, sadly. Still, there's hope – maybe one day they'll decide to pay you a visit."

She gently leaned forward onto her knees, kneeling in front of the grave as she began handpicking out the weeds and moss that grew either on or around the stone, smiling briefly once her work was finished. "There. I know it's not much but at least now your final resting place has been taken care of with the respect you deserve."

She felt a slight lightening feeling as she got back onto her feet, nodding knowingly towards the stone.

"I'm glad you appreciate it. May your rest be soothing."

She continued onward, repeating the treatment with half a dozen more graves, relighting burned out candles with a wave of her hand upon coming across one. Once she'd gone through all of the graves she felt needed cleaning, she made her way to the mound of sweets left behind by the obnoxious boys from before. As she stared at the black and orange cladded pieces of candy she couldn't help but feel angered. Picking up a small chocolate ball covered in a grinning pumpkin wrapper, she ignited the piece of candy without much thought, watching as it slowly burned into a crisp in her hand.

"Is this where it's come to; costumes, candy and ghost stories?" she spoke out loud, her question not really targeted towards anyone as she stared at the flames that danced widely on her hand. Once the candy was but a piece of charcoal, she tipped her hand to get rid of it as she raised her head to look at the dark sky, a scowl forming on her face.

"You dare hide from me on a night like this. Coward; you have no idea how hard this is for me!" she shouted angrily towards the new moon before briefly turning her focus back onto the pile of candy, the small mound soon catching fire as she waved her hand above it, momentarily halting to stare at the small bonfire she'd started. When she returned her gaze back to the sky, the moon was still nowhere to be seen.

Sighing to relieve herself from her pent-up frustration with the moon, she moved to sit on top of a large stone casket – knowing that the resident wouldn't mind – and once more set her eyes on the slowly dying bonfire.

This time of the year was a particularly hard time for her and the Man in the Moon without a doubt knew that. Many centuries ago she'd woken up and met him for the first time – albeit quite briefly – having been given a name and task. That task however seemed downright impossible during Halloween and she was beginning to feel it affect her, making her feel moody and spiteful, as well as drained.

She was more or less in charge of this town's ability to pay their respects for its' departed; something that was easier said than done. The situation nowadays was far worse than it had ever been during her couple of centuries at the task and she was at a loss what to do. People just didn't seem to visit their departed relatives anymore; not even on the day best suited for it.

All Saints' Day or as people nowadays knew it, All Hallows' Eve, Halloween; the day the spirits were at their most active.

They longed to be visited by someone, to be remembered. Some of them had waited months, some even several decades for anyone to come. They were, after all, bound to their final resting place and therefor couldn't leave their graves. No, seeking out their relatives was her job, and right now she wasn't much help to the poor souls, nearly powerless to even leave the graveyard herself. For now all she could do to ease the spirits was tidy their graves and light candles. Well, there was also the odd chasing away any hooligans that thought it was funny to disrupt the peace of the dead by acting like a bunch of idiots; that always cheered up the departed.

From the moment the Man in the Moon had first told her her name, she'd been aware of her ability to wield fire. After all, she was Willow of the Wisp – or Willow for short; a spirit similar to the Will-o'-the-Wisp, and as such the element of fire was close to her. Contrary to her counterpart who was practically a giant fireball, her appearance didn't give away what she was. True, she could manifest fire from her hands but that was about it when it came to being a spirit of the same element.

Her long, thick hair was as black as the coal she burnt things into; baring two, wide white streaks on the top of her head, reminding her of a skunk. Her eye color, she'd noted, changed depending on her mood; varying from a glowing green to a deep, dark green. Her skin color was on the borderline of grayish, and if she were human she'd been on the verge of death. She considered herself average in height, just short of 160cm. Her petite form was cladded in a light and simple ash gray dress and black cloak; her feet protected from the cold by formfitting black boots she'd tied on tight, the shanks of the boots reaching just past her ankles.

The bonfire she'd started soon died out, leaving behind only a heap of ash. She stared at it for a moment – her anger now having diminished – feeling saddened for the future of the departed. She had to figure out a way to make people visit the graveyard more; otherwise the Man in the Moon would have to find a new spirit to replace her.

She carefully lied down on the stone casket, feeling suddenly tired. She sighed, knowing she'd strained herself more than she should have during a time like this; having chased away multiple people during the course of the night as well as tended to the graves. If she kept this up, she wouldn't last much longer.

Giving the empty sky one more look, she wished the departed souls a pleasant rest of the night before closing her eyes.

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Reviews are highly appreciated! Pitch will appear in the next chapter ;)


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **As promised, here's the next chapter. I apologize for taking this long; the final editing took longer than usual... Anyway, please enjoy. Reviews are highly appreciated! :)

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A voice stirred her from her dull, dreamless slumber, waking her into a new day. The sun, though already at the verge of setting, greeted her eyes with a sting as if scolding her for sleeping in, and she had to shield her poor eyes from the harsh light by diving her head into the shadows inside her cloak. She wasn't much of a fan of the sun; her eyes used to the dark after centuries of working mainly during the night. She was strongly convinced that the feeling was mutual – the sun was the moon's counterpart after all, competing for dominance over the same sky.

"Come on boy, let's go visit granny!" a high, excited voice called out, causing Willow to forget about her malice towards the sun and snap back into reality as she carefully peaked at her surroundings from inside her cloak.

A young girl with brown hair pulled into two piggy tails all but raced to one of the graves, a large mix bred dog accompanying her, though the dog seemed to be more interested on the stone casket Willow was lying on.

'_Oh great, animals…_' she mentally sighed, giving the dog a careful look.

Being a sort of spirit who's existence depended on the wellbeing of the departed, Willow's ability to be seen by people had nothing to do whether they believed in her or not, but rather by her own choice. Animals, however, were different, as they usually had supernatural abilities such as seeing what humans couldn't, as in this case, her.

"Blitz, come on boy! Come see granny!" the girl hollered once more, that being enough for the dog to leave Willow alone and follow its master, trotting quickly beside the young girl before it started showing signs of wanting to dig through the elderly woman's grave.

Willow studied the pair quietly, a smile forming on her face as she felt the joy the old woman resting in that particular grave felt from the visit of her only grandchild. The dog apparently was a nice surprise as well, though Willow wouldn't allow it to reek havoc on any grave; be it a relative's or not.

She quickly jumped into the air from her spot on top of the casket and flew smoothly on to the other side of the gravestone of the girl's grandmother, giving the misbehaving dog a glare when it glanced at her.

"No digging! Human or animal, I won't let you make a mess out of this graveyard, understood?" she spoke to the dog firmly, the dog barking once as if answering her.

"Huh, what are you barking at Blitz?" the young girl wondered out loud as she glanced at her partner, the dog simply wagging his tail in a good manner. "Well, it doesn't matter. Let's say goodbye to granny now. Sorry granny, it'll be dark soon so we have to leave." At this she hesitated for a moment, glancing quickly at the sky before turning her eyes back on the stone. "But I promise we'll come visit you again soon!" the girl chirped confidently, smiling brightly. She lingered close to the grave for a while longer before starting to head back for the main road behind the small patch of forest, her dog in tow.

Willow stared after the pair, feeling oddly refreshed. She smiled, glancing briefly at the grave the girl had visited.

"You have a lovely granddaughter; the dog's a bit on the wild side but he's nice as well. Lets hope she's able to keep her promise; it'd be nice to have a frequent visitor."

The voice of the departed old woman filled her, voicing her concern for the little girl. Willow sighed.

"If it eases your worry I'll gladly accompany her home," she suggested, instantly feeling the worry disappear from the woman's soul. She smiled, already hovering above the ground. "I'll be seeing you later tonight, then."

* * *

The little girl's way home had been fairly uneventful and she'd arrived at her house just before the sun set. Blitz had caused Willow some trouble, as the dog had constantly jerked to a stop should she hover behind the girl, thus forcing her to hover a few meters in front of her in order to make up for the lost time.

During the surprisingly long walk to the girl's house, Willow had wondered where the girl had gotten her dedication to walk that far to visit her grandmother's grave.

'_She's probably barely in second grade; how's she allowed to wander this far without a parent? Sure, she has the dog but still…'_

"Mom I'm home!" the girl called out once inside, Willow having decided to stay for a while longer, now perched against the kitchen window as she watched the small girl make her way towards her mother who was sitting at the table.

The tall woman nodded, typing something on her laptop, stopping briefly to take a sip of her coffee.

"That's nice Nina. Where were you exactly; weren't you supposed to walk the dog?"

"I was walking him. We went to see granny," the young girl, Nina, answered happily, her words only causing her mother to frown slightly as she continued her work.

"Oh. Is that so."

There was a long stretch of silence between them as Nina's mother continued typing vigorously on her laptop. Nina swayed from one foot to the other, something clearly on her mind.

"I was wondering, maybe next time we could go together," she finally spoke up, hope evident in her voice.

Willow watched as the woman frowned even more, halting her typing for barely a moment as she quickly dismissed her daughter's suggestion.

"I'm busy Nina. Why don't you go to bed, it's getting late anyway."

Willow studied the woman as Nina slowly made her way upstairs, her eyes not leaving the screen when the little girl chirped her 'goodnights' to her, merely humming in return. Frowning, Willow let herself hover a floor higher as she searched for Nina's room, eventually finding a window adorning pink drapes. She glanced inside, finding the interior matching the curtains. She landed on a nearby branch with an okay view of her room and simply watched as the girl fell slowly to sleep, a thin golden string of sand making its way to her.

As she watched the girl dream about a dog – no doubt Blitz – Willow couldn't help but feel a little sad for the girl. Her mother seemed to bring her work home and her grandmother had recently passed away, and despite all of this Nina still seemed to be quite content with her life, even finding the time to go visit her grandmother's grave. During all her years, Willow had never come across such a child. Even a few centuries ago, there'd never been a child as young as her who'd felt obligated to visit a grave before.

She gazed briefly at the sky, seeing the faintest outline of the growing crescent moon, and she wondered whether it had something to do with this. Be it what may, this child gave her hope to live on and continue her task for the departed.

She ended up watching Nina for half of the night, enjoying the dream that was being animated by the Sandman's sand. She was thrilled when the girl indeed visited her grandmother again on the very same week, feeling her own energy levels increase as well. Nina was one of the few that visited, especially during this late in the year. Personally Willow couldn't wait for the Christmas holidays when people usually flocked to remember their deceased relatives. For now, Nina's frequent visiting was enough, though barely.

To suddenly have a visitor after so long was messing up with her energy levels. It was as if she was an addict of some sort; during the days that the little girl came to visit, she was fine and her spirit was elevated, but should more than three days go by without a visit, Willow felt physically terrible, barely having the will or strength to tend to the unvisited graves. The departed of course didn't mind, understanding her struggles. It still didn't make her feel any less guilty however.

Luckily, Nina visited a few times per week for nearly a month after that fateful day Willow had first come to know of the little girl. She always had Blitz with her. Her mother never accompanied them.

Willow had learned that Nina's grandmother was actually of her father's side, thus providing an explanation to her mother's un-interest to visit. Unknown to the little girl, Willow would always see her home during the days she visited; the fire spirit looking after her even when she slept her vivid, happy dreams.

Of course, having been around for centuries, Willow knew all good things must come to an end; that day having been much closer than she'd thought. November was on its last week when Nina suddenly didn't visit for over a week; rising concern from both Willow and Nina's grandmother. Willow had wanted to visit the girl but her duties at the cemetery had been too much of a strain on her to even think about leaving. She was moody and spiteful once more; a fact that didn't go unnoticed by the moon this time, she'd made sure of that.

Finally, after nearly two weeks of no visitors, Nina arrived. Willow immediately noticed she wasn't her usual cheerful self; the little girl's worries reflected on her grandmother as well. Nina looked tired; very tired. She had blackish eye bags under her eyes and she seemed drained. Willow didn't feel good in her presence; something that had never happened before.

Nina slowly made her way to her grandmother's grave and kneeled down to look at the stone, a ghost of a smile momentarily appearing on her face.

"Hi granny, it's me again," she began, her voice hoarse. "I'm sorry I haven't been visiting much lately. I feel bad for leaving you all alone but I've just been so tired…" her voice gradually grew weaker before she let out a huge yawn as if her sleep deprived state needed further emphasizing.

Willow wondered how the girl had gotten herself into such a state; as far as she had seen, the Sandman seemed to put a lot of time and effort into making his dreams. Had he somehow skipped over Nina by mistake?

Nina talked to her grandmother's stone for a while before it got too dark for her to stay any longer.

"I'm sorry granny but I have to go now. I'll try to come again soon."

Willow of course followed the poor child home now that she finally had the energy to do so again, lingering by the girl's window until it was her bedtime. What she found out shocked her. The girl's mother had to carry the girl into her room, all but wrestling her into bed as the brown-haired girl struggled in her mother's grasp at the verge of tears.

"Nina, honey, you really have to calm down; otherwise the Sandman will think you don't want to fall asleep."

"But I don't want to fall asleep! I want to stay awake," Nina protested, clinging onto her mother for dear life.

Her mother sighed, prying off her arms. "Nina, you've acted like this for far too long. You have to let mommy go and go to sleep."

Her last sentence seemed to trigger an even stronger reaction from the girl as she fought back to bind her arms around her mother. "No mommy don't go! Don't leave me alone! Can't I sleep in your room again? Mommy please!" she all but cried, casting a stray glance towards her closet. "I don't want to sleep alone, it's scary!"

"Nina, you're a big girl now and big girls sleep-" her mother managed to sigh out before her daughter once again interrupted her.

"But he can't find me when I'm with you!"

"Nina, we've already discussed about this. There's no such thing as the Boogeyman," her mother stated, finally prying off the girl's arms and tucking her in, stepping out of her reach before she could grab ahold of her again. "Goodnight dear, sweet dreams," she told her before closing the door, leaving Nina alone in the room.

She was clearly torn between leaping out of bed and staying put, eying every dark corner her nightlight didn't reach. She seemed to hold in her tears as she swallowed heavily, forcefully lying back down and closing her eyes, drawing her covers over her head.

'_Boogeyman…?_' Willow repeated the name mentally, feeling oddly confused. She didn't know what or whom Nina's mother had referred to, having never heard of such a thing. She wondered whether it was a concept of some sort that humans had invented to describe Nina's current state.

Be it what may, Willow was beginning to understand why the girl seemed so tired; nightmares. It seemed she'd been wrong about the Sandman; he'd obviously visited but instead of giving Nina sweet dreams, he'd given her nightmares. Frowning, she watched over the little girl covered in sheets, casting a glance up above. She would have to have a word with the Sandman.

A single golden string of sand fluttered through Nina's window and into Nina herself, once again materializing into an energetic dog. Willow watched it intensely, waiting for anything odd to happen. The dream, though, seemed to follow the exact same route it had every night she'd stayed over to watch over her; the sand dog still jumping about just as happily as before.

'_This seems like a very nice dream so far, I can't imagine why she wouldn't want to fall asleep with dreams like this. Maybe she's just imagining things before bedtime? Or maybe this is her way of spending more time with her mother…'_

Willow considered many possibilities, somewhat absorbed in her thoughts that when a dark figure conjured from the shadows it went unnoticed by her until it was too late. It was Nina's pained groans and shallow breathing that finally snapped her attention back onto the girl, horrified to see the little girl tossing and turning under her covers, the once golden sand now a vicious black. From the corner of her eye she could see a dark figure inside Nina's room and without thinking she lunged to the window and went through it as if it were air.

The figure halted for a moment, turning in the shadows as if to access the spirit that had just entered the bedroom. Even though her eyes were adjusted to the dark, the shadows of the room were somehow too much for her to see through, and Willow struggled to see who the dark figure standing mere meters away was. She quickly glanced back at Nina, her condition unchanging though her covers had now moved away from her face, displaying her uncomfortable expression.

"What did you do to her?" she demanded of the figure, her eyes turning a near glowing bright green as she stared at the unknown figure murderously, hoping it'd be enough to pry her an answer.

To her great dismay and shock the figure didn't seem to be intimidated by her intense stare, merely letting out a deep, amused laugh, causing Nina to let out a gasp. Willow's anxiety grew with every passing second the young girl whimpered in her sleep, and she could tell the person causing her distress felt nothing of such sort, merely glee, if anything.

"I'll ask you again," she began, conjuring a small ball of green fire in her hand, "what did you do to her?"

The small ball of fire flared in her hand, further adding to the lighting in the room, finally making it bright enough for her to see the person behind Nina's discomfort. It was a tall, black cladded man with black hair and golden eyes, his skin an odd grayish color despite the green halo her fire was giving off. Everything about him – his facial features, his hair, his stare… – were sharp, and it seemed there was nothing soft about him. He had a sneer on his face, his sharp teeth reminding her of a shark as he gave her a predatory glare.

His voice, when he finally spoke, was surprisingly smooth and pleasant on the ear, though his words weren't, as she soon found out.

"I simply gave her a new ending to that sad old dream," he stated solemnly as if doing a favor for the poor little girl. "You know how dreams are; they get frightfully boring after you've seen it more than once. Originality is vital, wouldn't you agree?"

She frowned, the man's words having left her feeling uncomfortable. '_A new ending? But how can he change the course of a dream; he isn't the Sandman, or at least I don't think he is…_'

"I think not. Change it back," she replied, the ball of fire flaring once again in her hand in an unspoken threat.

The man seemed to think about it for a while, cocking his head to the side.

"Let me consider the thought… No?" he answered in a prompting manner, his collected tone on the matter irritating her. It apparently showed, for the man flashed a knowing grin at her before focusing back onto Nina.

Before she could even consider igniting the smirking man into flames, Nina suddenly began to toss and turn harder than before, her breathing growing far too shallow to be able to stay asleep for much longer. Willow didn't know what to do, left to stare helplessly at the girl who seemed to be in pain.

The man let out a burst of laughter, seeming excited as he took a step or two towards the poor girl.

"Ah, she's almost at the end. This is always the best part…" he snickered, his voice ominously low, beginning to grin wider as his body tensed with anticipation.

Willow stared at the scene anxiously, unsure what to do. She decided it was best to disperse of her fireball should Nina wake up, for even though she herself would go unseen by the girl, her fire wouldn't.

"Here it comes," the man whispered smoothly as he looked at the child's face with an almost adoring expression mere millisecond before she broke into a horrifying scream.

Nina opened her eyes, terror written all over her as she screamed until she lost all the air out of her lungs, breathing wildly as tears ran down her cheeks. Not even a second passed until she noticed the black cladded man who was now sneering at her, his golden eyes pinned on her. She seemed to lose her voice as she let out a voiceless scream, staring at the tall figure in utter terror.

The man leaned slightly closer to her, whispering a single word.

"Boo!"

That was all that it took for Nina to pass out, her reaction instantly causing the man to smirk widely. He took deep breaths near the girl, as if the air were ecstasy. Willow stared at the passed out girl in morbid shock, finally having realized why the girl had been so reluctant to go to bed.

Before she could say or do anything, the man turned his attention back onto her, sneering once again.

"I'd love to continue the chat but it seems we'll be interrupted in just a few seconds. It's always the parents that ruin our fun," he complained mockingly before suddenly sinking into the floor, a black shadow moving across the floor to the window in the blink of an eye, a mere fraction of a second before Willow could here footsteps along the hallway outside Nina's room.

Knowing that Nina would be safe for now, she jumped through the window, hell-bent on catching up to the man who was responsible for Nina's current state. He hadn't gotten far, having stopped by the neighboring house if the screams were to go by. She quickly made her way to the window, just in time to intercept him as he exited the room of a wailing little boy. Conjuring her fire once more, she gave him her best intimidating sneer.

The man, of course, still wasn't impressed with her, giving her a dismissive glance as they both hovered in the air.

"Well now, are you going to follow me all night?" he laughed, his voice causing unintentional shivers to run down her back. His mirth seemed to end there, though, as he gave her a serious stare, his voice stern. "You're not a guardian, are you?"

Having no idea what he was talking about, she merely shook her head, trying to draw strength out of her anger towards him.

"No. I couldn't care less what you do or where you go as long as it's not that house," she spoke through her teeth as she pointed at Nina's house, trying to keep her voice confident as she flared her fire.

The man raised his brow, an ominous smirk gracing his face once more.

"Oh but that girl's fear is so soothing. Her reactions are so pure and intense as if she'd never had a nightmare before in her life. Oh it reminds me of the good old days," he trailed off, his words almost making her gag.

"Soothing? She's terrified! Absolutely scared to death to fall asleep!" she screamed at him, feeling her anger climb into new heights. The ball of fire seemed to grow without her knowing.

"But that's exactly my point. That's how everyone should feel, child or adult. They should fear."

Willow was on the verge of setting the entire house on fire with the way things were going, and she resentfully let the fireball die out in her hand, pinning the dark cladded man with her gaze.

"Who would desire a world like that?" she whispered out loud, not caring whether or not the man actually heard her. It was her second question that she wanted an answer to. "Who are you?"

"I think you already know the answer to that; that girl's mother mentioned me earlier," he stated dismissively before turning to look at the neighboring house with a dark expression, "though she was sadly mistaken about my existence."

Willow felt a shiver go down her spine as she watched him stare at the house, quickly figuring out who he was. She had a bad feeling about this man.

"Now," he suddenly spoke while turning his eyes away from the house and back onto her, "the real question here would be who you are," he stated bluntly, giving her a preoccupied expression.

She hesitated for a moment, not sure whether she should answer or not. Eventually she came to the conclusion that this was a better route of conversation than Nina's fear, so she gave him what he wanted.

"You're the Boogeyman, aren't you?" she addressed him, wanting to confirm her suspicions, and after receiving a curt nod she continued with her own introduction. "I'm Willow of the Wisp. And before you ask, no, I'm not Will-o'-the-Wisp; that's an entirely different spirit altogether."

The Boogeyman smirked. "I see. I wouldn't have asked; I've already met that flying fireball. You, however, I've never seen or heard of before." His voice was calculating yet he allowed his deep and smooth tone to be laced with curiosity, most likely done on purpose, morphing his simple statement into a question.

Willow considered his words for a moment, wondering why he wanted to know more when he'd already received her name. Sure, they were strangers to one another but that definitely didn't mean she wanted to get to know him better. Now that she thought about it, she interacted very little with other spirits.

"Well, compared to you, I'd gather, I've been around for a relatively short amount of time, only a couple of centuries. I… reside at the local cemetery where I try to get stubborn, ignorant people to come visit their forgotten relatives."

"Is that so?" he replied in a lazy voice, breaking eye contact with her for a moment to glance at the large crescent moon. "What a sad existence. And I would assume you've been bound to that task by the moon, haven't you?"

His comment caused her to cringe as she sneaked a glance at the moon, knowing it was listening to their conversation. She swallowed, suddenly feeling nervous.

"I… don't think so," she began, though lying through her teeth. She'd never been happy about her situation, more or less serving the moon; especially when it never seemed to aid her during her struggles. Even now as her only spec of hope had suffered from terrible nightmares, the Man in the Moon still ignored her. "So, did the moon bind you as well, Boogeyman?"

The tall man let out a mirthless laugh, flicking his hand at the moon in a dismissive fashion.

"No," he replied deadpan, his eyes moving back towards her, a wicked grin on his face, "I'd been scaring children long before the Man in the Moon ever came to exist. Back then I wasn't just a bad dream; I was real." He paused for a moment, his eyes far away, as if remembering something from a long time ago. "I wasn't even known as the Boogeyman yet, either."

Willow could feel her eyes widen at his statement.

"_But if he's not bound by the moon, that means… he's free._"

She felt a pang of jealously towards the man; yearning for such freedom as well. But she could hardly say it out loud with the moon watching them. Frowning upon the thought, she cast him a cautious look.

"Then what were you known as if not the Boogeyman?" she felt obligated to ask despite the long stretch of silence that had formed between them ever since he'd stopped talking.

"Pitch Black," he answered, sounding deep in thought, casting her a stoic look. "Couldn't ask for a more fitting name, hm?," he sneered knowingly, his words almost making Willow wish she hadn't brought up the subject in the first place.

"Actually, I was thinking in the same line as you; you're name couldn't be more spot on."

"Quite so. Well, now that introductions are over I really must be leaving; the night is still young enough for a few more nightmares," Pitch spoke, grinning slightly at the sight of the fire spirit tensing up a little. He turned into a mass of shadows once more, swirling wildly around the anxious young woman. "Don't be afraid, your little girl's had her share of wonderful nightmares for tonight. But who knows; maybe tomorrow..."

Once again he made Willow shiver by only the sound of his voice; his final words holding a promising threat. With that, he was gone, another scream roaring from a house not too far away. Willow wasn't particularly interested in following the Nightmare King all night, already feeling the effects her earlier angered state had put her through. With her energy levels dropping she would soon have to return to the cemetery and hope someone would come and visit. Before her depart however she felt the urge to check up on Nina; wanting to make sure Pitch kept his word. Hovering close to the window, she sighed out in relief when she saw Nina already sleeping soundly, her mother humming a comforting melody beside her.

'_Sweet dreams Nina; hopefully the Boogeyman will leave you alone for now on. If not, I'll have to make him…_'


End file.
